Coaching Is Warm.

Folks, have you ever stumbled on a role, job, or occupation that you felt was made just for you and came just at the right time? That’s what coaching has become for me. Before I took the scary leap to leave my events business after twenty years I couldn’t visualize a more fun life on the other side. It’s like the blindfold is only removed when we throw in the towel on our just-ended season.

Curiosity is a good thing. In fact, we all need to live more curiously. Maybe the saying that you can’t have your cake and eat it applies in life too. Though I get a bit confused about this because mummy shark has become a master baker. She bakes our cakes and we devour them at home. We hang around the kitchen like vultures surrounding a kill waiting for her to throw some cake our way hehe. Perhaps the life lesson is that you can’t hold on to the past and still partake in the future. Throw away the towel folks when it’s time to move on and the blindfold will follow suit. You will see more clearly where you should go and how.

Last week I had a follow-up session with a client. In the previous session, we were working on her getting jumpstarted on a new phase of life and trying to craft what that will look like. I’m a big advocate of starting small and celebrating small wins. Many times we get stuck even before we get started because the task ahead is so elephant that it overwhelms us leading to self-disqualification from the race. But when we focus on small tasks with short timelines then we start eating the elephant one bite at a time.

My client loves knitting and I found that to be a good metaphor. It reminded me of Myles Munroe when he said that until we start knitting the thread will not appear. Similar quote to when the student is ready the teacher will appear. In that session, we set some action points for the next two weeks and one of those was to knit a scarf and complete it. Once we complete a task then forward momentum picks up and we find ourselves accomplishing more. It’s hard being a success if our lives are littered with unfinished business.

During our session, we even discussed what the scarf will look like and proposed some colors. We then set our goals and worked through a few other items and ended our time together. I have never been brave enough to be an evangelist but I think I have found my kind of evangelism, coaching. Although a good coach shouldn’t talk as much as an evangelist or preacher, the little questioning and exploring of options get me excited. In coaching, curiosity doesn’t kill the cat. It shows the cat where to go and how to catch the mouse.

We met again last week after two weeks. My client came in carrying a bag and had a spring in her step. We settled in and caught up and just before we got into the sessions she handed me the bag saying it was for me. To my amazement, there was a brown knitted scarf in it. It looked classy like those the royal family wear during winter. I was speechless for a moment. Yaani for her to achieve the goal set she targeted to make her coach a scarf because that was the one commitment she couldn’t hepa easily unless, of course, she doesn’t show up for our meeting. That’s what your coach holding you accountable looks like.

Now I’m all set for my next photo safari to the Mara, especially the early morning game drive baridi. Finishing that scarf was symbolic at so many levels for my client and I celebrate her. Plus I became a beneficiary of her latent greatness in a small way. This reminds me of another client and pal who summited Mt Kenya in April. Getting to the Point Lenana peak was a breakthrough for him in more ways than one. I’m enjoying watching him conquer other peaks in his life and expand his horizons further. His latent potential is oozing out nicely in how he’s living his life with a new deeper awareness. Sometimes all we need to unlock and unleash the greatness within is just someone to walk alongside us until we find our way.

Folks are you experiencing some smouldering discontent that is increasingly hard to ignore? If so maybe consider writing down what steps (however silly and small they may sound) you can take to start crafting the new you. There’s a way a task diminishes in size and difficulty once we start working on it. I’m slightly fearful of failing an exam for a coaching certification I’m seeking currently. But the more I prepare for it the more competent I feel. So I will just feel the fear and do it anyway. After all, that’s the definition of courage ama? Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy my morning coaching sessions more now because I’ll be warmer with my hand-knitted scarf. Coaching is warm folks. Try it out sometime.